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Lizie Y. Boyd ~ William Hartwell Kolb

Monroe Co., Mississippi
 

William Hartwell Kolb, of Aberdeen, who represents Monroe County, was born in that County during the progress of the Civil War (October 16, 1862) at Hamilton (Rees Store). His father, John Ervin Cobb, had an adventurous career. He was born at Caledonia, Lowndes County, Mississippi. When the Civil War began, he enlisted, and made one of the bravest soldiers of Company G., 41st Mississippi Infantry. After the war he returned home and remained there until 1869. For the following thirteen years he passed his life in what was then the frontier region. First he went to Texas, where he lived for five years; thence he went to the Indian Territory, and later to Arkansas. In 1882 he returned to settle down for good in his native State. His parents were Milton and Elizabeth (nee Ellis) Kolb of Caledonia. The Kolbs were among the earliest settlers in Virginia. They were among the number of liberty loving races that left their native lands on account of religious persecution. They came to Virginia in 1616. The branch to which Representative Kolb belongs migrated South to the Carolinas, and thence gradually through Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Mr. Kolb's great-grandfather, Peter Kolb, settled in Mississippi, near Caledonia, in 1818. The connection is a numerous one; in 1892 there were about 12000 persons of this surname living in the United States. They represent the best population of the communities in which they reside. William Hartwell Kolb's maternal grand-parents were also Mississippians, William Stewart and Sara (nee Thomas) Stewart, of Rees Store, or Hamilton, Monroe County. Their daughter, Artelia, married John Ervin Kolb and is the mother of the subject of the present sketch.

Mr. Kolb will tell you that he received his early education "at the fireside, by the pine knot light", and that his mother was his best teacher. After leaving the public schools he attended the Mississippi Normal College at Troy, where he continued until within one year of graduation. Here he fitted himself for teaching, an occupation that he followed successfully for two years, 1888 and 1889. He is a man of strong convictions and the purest ideals of public service. From November 12, 1889 to January 6, 1896, Mr. Kolb held the office of Chancery Clerk of Monroe County. In 1915 the people of his county honored him with election to the 1916-1920 term of the Legislature, and the State's honor and credit will always be safe in the hands of such men as William Hartwell Kolb. He is one of the most careful and efficient members of the Legislature and has served with marked ability on the following committees: Penitentiary; Fees and Salaries; County Affairs; Liquor Traffic; Insurance. Mr. Kolb is a Democrat, a Deacon in the Presbyterian Church, and a member of the following fraternal societies: Odd Fellows, Knights Pythias, and Woodmen of the World. He has also served for four years as President of the Executive Board of the State Farmers' Union.

Mr. Kolb was married, March 24, 1891 at Nettleton, Mississippi, to Miss Lizie Y. Boyd, daughter of Thadeous and Kate (nee Metts) Boyd, of Nettleton. The Boyds came originally from the Lawrence District, South Carolina. Of this marriage there have been born seven children, only two of whom are living: Lawrence Boyd Kolb , and James Richard Kolb.


Source: The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi, by Dunbar Rowland; Microfiche of original published: Nashville : Brandon Print. Co., 1908. FHL Fiche 6082483
 

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